


Let the Ocean take Me

by primanocta



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:42:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24411505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primanocta/pseuds/primanocta
Summary: Series of drabbles about Corrilian's life that didn't make it into my main fic "The Flower of Markarth"Consider it a prologue/running alongside
Relationships: Corrilian x Larina, Larina x Corrilian
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	1. Prologue

_"The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous_

_and the storm terrible,_

_but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason_

_for remaining on the shore"_

~ Vincent van Gogh


	2. Poor Creatures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young Corrilian finds a little bird

Irinwe had not long settled in her usual window seat to read when she heard a frantic knock at her study door. From its cadence she knew of only one person it could be, and when she opened the door, her young son came barging in. 

She was just about to remind him of his manners when she realised he had been crying, heavily, his little soft cheeks still lined with dirt and tears. As she realised her son had something clasped in his tiny hands, Irinwe closed her study door and asked her son, 

“What do you have hiding my dear?”. 

Wiping his nose on his sleeve and sniffling, Corrilian opened his hands slightly, enough for his mother to see the faint sight of a little beak peering out. Kneeling down to his height, Irinwe rested a hand gently on his shoulder and with the other, pried open his little hands. Sheltered within was a tiny, blue bird, who, being exposed to more sunlight, began a frail attempt at peeping. 

“What have I told you about taking little creatures from their mother’s Corrilian? They’re too frail to be without them” Irinwe sighed, and she could see her son’s lip begin to tremble. Gently lifting his gaze from his hands to hers, she encouraged him to explain why he was so upset. 

“Father and I found it outside of its nest on the floor, he was going to let Coric eat it but I snatched it up before he had a chance” he had hardly made it through the sentence before his tiny body had been wracked with sobs. Irinwe consoled her son in a tight embrace and informed him,

“Sometimes my dear things aren’t destined to survive outside of the nest, we have to leave those decisions to Meridia”. 

“But he didn’t even give it a chance” her son sobbed again. It was not the first time she had heard those words describing her husband, and she hoped it would be years before Corrilian would truly understand it. 

“Perhaps your father was trying to teach you a lesson on the nature of things…” Irinwe lied on her husband’s behalf. But as she watched as her son loosened the little dome he had formed over the bird, freeing it fully, the small bird nestled in the palm of his hand did not take its opportunity to flee. 

“It seems you have a natural touch for broken creatures _my_ little bird” Irinwe rose to her feet, “let’s go have a word with your father, I am sure we can convince him that your tending to the bird and nursing it back to health is the perfect lesson in patience and compassion, perhaps we will make a healer of you” and she was glad to see that smile to return to his gentle face. Fetching her handkerchief, Irinwe soaked it in a glass of water and cleaned away the dirt and tears from her son’s face: she knew how her husband would react if he realised Corrilian had been crying. 

Like her, her son had always felt his emotions deeply and she encouraged him to express them, much to Kardryian’s ire: he blamed her mothering of him for his sensitivity, of how it wasn’t the right kind of behaviour for a man. As he had grown older, Kardyrian had become more impatient of his behaviour, and Irinwe feared how he would shape Corrilian into his adulthood. She had already lost one son, she wouldn’t lose another. Returning to her son’s side, Irinwe encouraged him towards the door, but in his stubbornness he remained steadfast. She knew he feared his father’s actions towards the broken creature nestled in his hand. 

Kissing her son gently on the top of his head, Irinwe reassured him, “I am sure we can convince your father, now let's go”. Taking his small hand in hers, Irinwe guided him out of her study and down the halls. As she passed one of their servants, she asked where her husband was relaxing, not surprised he was in his own study overlooking the sea. As well as Corrilian, her only other joy in the house was the distance between their spaces. Since she had performed her wifely duties, he had no reason for her to attend him, and for that she was thankful. Having convinced her husband not to hire a wetnurse or nanny for Corrilian meant she had an extra excuse to avoid him, taking charge of raising their son. It helped that she could protect him from Kardyrian’s cruel hands, fearful of the few moments he demanded time alone with his son. Normally children were overjoyed to hunt or journey with their fathers, but every time Corrilain returned in tears or worse: his stoney silences scaring her even more. 

For a moment the pair hesitated outside the door to his study, dark double oak doors intricately engraved. Sensing her son’s apprehension, she knew she couldn’t let him sense her concern either, and so Irinwe knocked defiantly at her husband’s door. When he called for them to enter, Irinwe gently guided him in. Like always, Kardyrian was sat behind his desk carved from driftwood, regarding trading maps as he drank his fine wine, his purebred hunting dog lounging in front of his fire. Everything in his life had to be perfectly refined, no deviations or exceptions. As her husband’s gaze drifted from her to their son, he realised that Corrilian had rescued the broken bird from earlier, his expression shifting quickly to anger. 

Rising quickly from his seat, Kardyrian snapped, “you foolish boy, did I not tell you earlier to leave it in the dirt?”. At his words Corrilian’s bottom lip trembled, but he held his head defiantly. 

“Look how it rests calmly in his hands, not attacking him or attempting to flee, Corrilian is clearly a natural in calming animals, I think we should let him raise it as a pet” Irinwe defended her son, his quick glance of a smile encouraging her defiance.

Kardyrian scoffed as he rose from his seat, taking his wine glass in one hand. He slowly took a sip before joining the two of them, regarding his son for a moment. With his free hand, Karydrian pried his son’s fingers apart and retrieved the little bird, holding it too tightly between his long fingers. Out of the safety of Corrilian’s palm it had begun to cry out in fear, Irinwe was just about to declare her point proven when her husband silenced her with a raised eyebrow. 

“Weak creatures are thrown out of the nest for a reason Corrilian, they jeopardize the survival of their family” Irinwe watched in rage and horror as her husband cruelly threw the small bird to his dog. 

With a heartbroken cry, Corrilian tried to push past them both, to save his little bird, only to be caught in his father’s tight grip: the more he struggled, the harder he held on, and Irinwe could see his skin begin to redden. Irinwe hoped that the impact of its fall had killed it before being torn apart, her own anger growing at the sound of her son’s heartbroken cries. 

Shaking his son harshly Kardyrian snapped, 

“Stop being so pathetic, it's a damned bird, it doesn’t matter”. Ragged intakes of breath interrupted his sobs as their son tried to regain his compuse to no avail.

Irinwe watched as her husband removed his grip on their son’s arm, almost causing him to stumble, and slowly watched as he began to raise it: knowing he was about to strike, Irinwe stood in front of her son defiantly. 

“Return to your room Corrilian, your father and I need to talk”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These little drabbles will begin in Corrilian's early childhood building up to before him arriving at Markarth as Justiciar :)


End file.
